The government credits its grants program with the spike in residential building approvals. Photo: NT Government.
Recent data shows that the Northern Territory leads the nation in building approvals.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the NT enjoyed a 69.7 per cent year-on-year increase in the number of residential building approvals for February, eclipsing the national average of 16.1 per cent.
The Northern Territory also saw a 5.7 per cent monthly increase, the second-best result among all national subdivisions.
The value of the approvals also doubled, increasing over the year to $38.4 million, indicating both high demand in the Territory for housing as well as a strong construction sector.
Non-residential building approvals also increased fourfold, to $127.3 million over the year.
“These are the kinds of numbers you want to see,” Treasurer and Minister for Logistics and Infrastructure Bill Yan said.
“They show that our economy is moving in the right direction, which is what we promised Territorians we would do.”
The Treasurer said the increase was due to the government’s HomeGrown Territory Grants initiative, which had been stimulating activity in the construction and housing industries since its launch last October.
“It’s no surprise that building numbers have turned around, with our HomeGrown scheme now reaching more than 500 applications in its first six months,” the Treasurer said.
“The last few years have been some of the lowest private building activity that Darwin has seen. With HomeGrown, we jolted it back to life.”
The policy serves the dual purpose of creating housing in response to growing demand and stimulating the economy with job creation.
